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Samsung Galaxy S5 vs HTC One M8 camera showdown at AndroidForums.com!

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What good is a 16 megapixel ISOCELL camera sensor if you can’t share the results of its might? That’s why folks have filed into the Samsung Galaxy S5 section at AndroidForums.com to share off all the great shots they’ve been taking with the device’s camera.

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S5 vs HTC One M8

The thread is chock full of users posting all the samples you can handle. Whether you’re still on the fence about a purchase decision or just want to take it all in, you should head over there right now (make an account if you haven’t already) and check it out. (And post some shots of your own if you have them!)

Want even more? How about this awesome head-to-head showdown forum member mach1man did, pitting the Galaxy S5’s camera against the HTC One M8.

You may think he’s doing this for the sole purpose of showing off his awesome jeep, but the further you go the more interesting things get (including low light shots inside, full high-noon sun shots, overcast shots, and more). Head over there, view all the shots and let us know who you think takes the camera crown.

That’s not all that’s going on, though. Check out some of these other awesome threads bulging with friendly discussion:

We’ve merely scratched the surface of everything that’s over there, so don’t waste any time in checking all of it out. AndroidForums.com’s Galaxy S5 section is the place to be if you have a question about the phone, have some awesome news to share, or just want to kick back and chit chat with fellow enthusiasts who own the device. Do yourself a favor and make sure you’re part of the conversation.

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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54 Comments

  1. Galaxy S5 camera wins hands down.

    1. Overall, yes. But luckily I use my photos for social media and I upload a lot, so I lower the MP anyways. Meaning crop pig doesn’t matter to me. Making things a bit equal when it comes to quality.

      Though when I focus on things and there is a window on the side, it over exposes. But if I focus on the window, then the outside world looks nice, but the room would darken. LoL!!

      1. WP8 has almost no apps and games….
        I sold my phone wp !……..

        WP killed nokia..

        WP is the biggest fail ever.

        The game smash hit is not for wp. its a lot of games you cant find.
        Chromecast dont work and so on and so on..

        nokia is not nokia anymore its microsoft…

      2. The problem with the M8 is that it gets colors wrong and blows out light sources. That’s a huge problem, and it doesn’t matter whether the pic is simply destined for Facebook or not.

        1. True, there are issues with the M8 camera that have nothing to do with resolution.

      3. But first let’s take a picture.

  2. Fight! Fight! Fight!

  3. They both look like crappy cell phone cameras. DSLR Master Race!

    1. DSLR’s are cool for when you want to all of that around.

      1. Yeah, but bickering over quality on something that doesn’t even match most point and shoots is a waste of time. Both take decent pictures for being cell phones, nobody that is serious about the picture they are taking should be using a cell phone.

        1. that would be assuming that everything in this world worked in black or white… but majority of consumers live in the gray. Camera plays a roll in a phone purchase for many people. Even if they are only taking pics for facebook, they want the phone that will take the best facebook pictures.

          Just like with gaming, one could argue “either you game on PC or you might as well just play monopoly. Worrying about console graphics is silly.” But that’s simply not the case for millions of consumers.

          1. It’s not silly to worry about console graphics, it is silly to worry about a small difference in resolution between consoles.

            Do you have fun playing games on it? Do your friend’s also play on it? Those are what you should worry about.

            All of the top tier cell phones work great for taking pictures to be used for online consumption. Hand the phones to someone who isn’t a spec nerd and they will be happy with any of latest offerings.

          2. that’s a fair comparison, the resolution between the consoles is a silly point of the debate. And one can appoint the same logic to cell phones. Since now they appear to all bear in the same league for the most part. However this wasn’t always the case, which is why I think these reviews are still popping up. Whenever i want to take a solid picture i use my girlfriend’s iPhone 5 over my nexus 4, everytime.

          3. Gotta say the resolution isn’t as small a detail as people think. The higher the resolution, the more you see. I’m not saying it’s a make it or break it factor but it would be important to me.

          4. The GS5 generally has more accurate color tones than even the 5s (unless you’re using flash, at which point, the GS5 sucks). Also, it handles light sources better than anything we’ve seen from a cell phone to this point. Those two points pretty much solidify it as the best shooting phone out there.

          5. I play a roll in board games but not in reality. I play several roles there.

          6. I’m the man in board games. Come see me.

        2. My S3 took way better pictures than our 9.1MP EasyShare. I use it all the time (HDR mode due to lighting in the warehouse) to take candid shots of products my company sells and send them to our customers. It beats the heck out of being tied down to a computer, and consistently produces excellent shots. Our Rebel takes a whole lot more effort to produce what my phone does automatically when dealing with the dynamic range presented by the shot.

          Camera phones are no longer just sad, and definitely have their place.

    2. You tell me what camera you’re likely to have in 10 seconds at any given point. With a 6 year old, I have to have the best shooting (android) cell phone I can get my hands on. For the last couple of years, that’s been a Galaxy.

      1. I have a Nikon L320 at most given points. But I get your point, yes. Most will have a phone on hand (if I don’t have my L320, I use my HTC m7).

    3. You are an enemy of the Daleks (DSLR’s)!

    4. DSLRs are an anachronism. No need for a mirror for TTL view on digital cameras. I have an arsenal of Nikkor lenses from my film days but chose to start from scratch with a m43 system camera. I. know Nikon has their own mirrorless system camera but frankly it isn’t that impressive. I have faster auto focus, image stabilization so good I can shoot handheld down to 1/2 second. and enjoy the best digital images I ever made (nothing touches my 6×7 Koni-Omega though)

  4. Say it with me folks…. the M8 wins again

    1. Umm delusional much?

      1. Yes, yes he is. M8 looked horrible in most of the shots. I’ll say it again…The M8 has horrible white balance issues, and even if it’s only destined for “social media” as Rob keeps saying, it’s destined to post VERY poor pictures to said social media. Whereas the GS5, although not spectacular compared to shots a pro would make, does a heck of a job with accurate colors, not blowing out light sources (another huge failing point of the M8), and it seems that IsoCell is actually doing its job. Is it a replacement for a real pro camera? No, it’s not. But for color reproduction and lack of cross-talk between pixels, it’s the best I’ve seen for a cell camera.

    2. You HTC fanboys can be very deluded sometimes. And you’re not even ashamed of such a lie?

      1. The All New HTC One is designed for people who form their own opinions… so go ahead… ask the internet.

        1. Says the guy who got that quote from an HTC commercial. You sheep!

        2. I did, and doing a quick search of S5 vs M8 camera on Google shows a ton of comparisons. Not one site I visited in the first two pages shows the M8 as the winner. To the contrary, Techsource, CNet, imore, various YouTube comparisons, etc…they all agree that the S5 is the champ.

      2. They should call this site HTCWorld.

        1. This site is OK. Pocketnow is where things areworse.

    3. Hah, delusional much? OK, so it wins most of the time when they have to use the flash, but aside from that, the M8 can’t take:
      -A picture with good white balance (the hue is off all over the place)
      -A picture with any kind of back light (washes everything out, with flare ‘n glare)
      -A picture worth keeping.

  5. Galaxy S5
    camera is much better than M8. It’s almost week now with my Galaxy S5 and the
    feature which I am able to explore till now is its 16MP camera, water resistant
    and shock resistant as I drop it twice and never even get a single scratch over
    it. Well I will continue exploring more features after I fully charge its
    2800mAh on wireless charging pad once in a day.

    1. it’s so much better but useless. I’d rather take a useful camera than the one that will make one great shot in 100 if you try really hard.

      1. It’s not hard to get a good photo with the S5, but it appears impossible to do with the M8

        1. Some how this guy was able to get a decent picture with HTC One M8. Pictures them selves are worth a look.
          (linky)
          http://www.colbybrownphotography.com/gear-review-a-photographers-take-on-the-htc-one-m8-2014/

          1. Three thoughts immediately come to mind. He makes no claims about whether or not he used full auto, and I’d wager a lot of money that he didn’t. He never says he didn’t do any post processing of the pictures. And lastly, you have no comparison shots, which allow you to judge which looks more natural. Here’s a couple of comparisons, though, showing just how off the M8 really is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btvW2UjDmzI
            http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s5-camera-comparison-versus-htc-one-m8-iphone-5s/

            http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s5/843322-my-testing-galaxy-s5-vs-htc-one-m8-camera-only.html

            http://www.imore.com/iphone-5s-vs-samsung-galaxy-s5-vs-htc-one-m8-camera-shootout

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjnA9Z22G3s

          2. Dude you work for SamShit, aint no way you just got all the information like this, plus a smart buyer knows to never just take a techsite word fully…. You go to the store and test things out for yourself

          3. Wow, where to begin in straightening you out? Working for (I assume you meant Samsung)? Nope. I’ve been on this forum since I owned the original G1 (before Disqus became the status quo). The only things Samsung gave me was two awesome phones, WHICH I PAID FOR, and semi-regular updates (SGSIII on 4.3 w/ 4.4 soak testing). As to how I got the info…I’m surprised someone on this site doesn’t know about this amazing invention called Google. Lastly, I’m a T-Mo customer who had the local shop close up 3 years ago. I get all of my phones online or over the phone, and I DEPEND on accurate reviews. Besides, what’s the point? I happen to be a phone camera nut (it’s far and away what I use most frequently), so I read all that I can on the new devices. Between candid, average user shots like the gallery THIS ARTICLE linked to, as well as pro reviews, I get the full picture. (Pun intended)

          4. Dude I really don’t care about your history lol, I don’t know you, don’t take my comment to personal, its the internet dude lol, I own the the M8 and my pics does not look anywhere near that bad that its being displayed

          5. HTC M8 shots look good so long as you don’t have anything else to compare them to.

            Would have been better with the Galaxy S5 or Xperia Z2.

          6. Agreed. The Z2 has excellent color balance and low noise. A little more in the flare and glare department from light sources, but definitely no worse than other heavy hitters like the 5s. Those trying to make a decision between Samsung’s camera and Sony’s have to choose between the higher pixels with the Exmor lens, or the lower crosstalk of the IsoCell. I couldn’t fault anyone for picking the Z2 on that basis.

        2. My girl dumped the S5 for the M8 SPECIFICALLY for the camera…. the S5 took terrible grainy low light photos. She loves the camera on the M8 because of the fast shutter and pics outcome with flash…. and shes a VERY average consumer by the way. S5 camera is overrated.

          1. Earlier, this site compared the low light settings of the S5, the M8, the Z2, and the G2. The M8 was grainy every time, with the S5 only being grainy once. To make matters worse, the M8 never once got the color right. This has been replicated by virtually every major tech review site. Lastly, the M8 cannot handle light sources. Your girl got bad advice from you. Hope her friends enjoy the terrible photos she puts on Facebook, because there’s no fixing making a face yellow or a picture blown out by light sources without extensive post processing.

          2. I know you’d love to think that she got some “bad advice” from me but shes overall glad she made the switch. Furthermore, my girl knows I’m a tech head and didn’t want to go purely off my reasoning. She saw someone else at the gym she attends with an HTC One M8 as well. Dude told her how awesome the camera has been for him as well. So all in all, the M8 may not be the best camera out, but it more than gets the job done.

            You’re being Nit-Picky man, and not every tech reviewer has bashed the M8. Some were able to capture great pictures on average.

          3. It’s not called being nit-picky. It’s called having standards.

  6. Quintyn,
    Those are the same people who are trying very hard to convince themselves that they aren’t the idiots who bought a phone with 16 MP camera with absolutely no practical purpose. So they go out and find that perfect shot to post. In practical application, 99 out of 100 pictures are junk, but that 1 awesome picture that took full advantage of the 16 MP camera make them feel really good about themselves. Let me guess. You are one of those with the useless camera phone and might have actually participated in this idiotic fan boy gathering? Have fun with your useless camera. When you wake up, it’d still be one awesome 16 MP camera that is useless in all practical applications.
    Seriously, you want to take award winning photos, get a SLR. You want to take real time shots on a camera, get one that actually works. This ain’t it.

    1. What are you talking about? It wins every camera battle out there, from CNET’s review, to the night mode shots posted on this site earlier, to this gallery, to TechSource on YouTube. It’s definitely NOT useless, because it handles two of the most important areas a camera can…light management and white balance. Those are things that are extremely difficult to impossible to fix in post processing. The M8 is just way off of the mark.

  7. My outdoor pictures on the M7 were always great…did they make it worse on the M8? I have the Galaxy S5 now, but I miss the Zoe Video highlights so will probably return to the HTC One when my T-Mobile jump is due.

  8. I would just be happy if my camera worked on my S5. Taking some pics and my phone rebooted. I tried to open the camera app and a black screen with a error message. ” Camera failed ” Didn’t know it was thing untill, I read this article.
    (linky)
    http://bgr.com/2014/04/23/galaxy-s5-camera-failed-bug-verizon/

  9. To see how well the M8 is doing in user’s hands, visit http://androidforums.com/htc-one-m8/832012-htc-m8-camera-discussion-show-off-your-pictures.html

    Compare the samples there, you may be surprised.

  10. Seeing how the M8 has the same camera as the M7 (my current phone), I can chime in and say that the camera is a piece of crap! I can never get a decent pic. Its like 1 out of 20 pics that would be usable. On my S3 with a 8mp camera, the pics were good. Great, compared to my M7. I love my M7 as a smartphone, but I can’t take pics. It’s embarrassing to ask friends with other phones (super low blow if they have a IPhone 5 since I’m anti-Apple) to take pics for me then text them to me. That whole ultra pixel ability to capture 300 times more lighting is total B.S seeing how I’d have 3 fluorescent lights on a subject and the pics cone out dark or the color is messed up, but on my S3 the pics are spot on. HTC Epic-FAIL on the 4MP. If you’re going to improve 90 percent of a device, why not go for the full 100% with the M8? I’m definitely going back to Samsung on my next upgrade.

  11. My M8 takes great pics and video. Don’t understand all the hype. Sometimes bright lights create hot spots, but I’ve learned how to handle. Tapping on the screen so the camera knows what your focal point is and it almost always fixes any contrast issues from the auto sensor. True I can’t zoom in very deep without getting pixelated, but that is not a big deal for me. Also the ufocus feature is great. And the low light feature really does work. I promise my low light shots are better then anything you can do with another phone. Best of all, shots in complete dark with flash are better then my SLR. it’s just a question of priorities in my opinion. And this camera is blazing fast! Think the S5 camera is really good too by the way. Just think this argument is so over blown and exaggerated. Learn how to use either properly and you can make some great pics!

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